Vise stand



T. G. BROWN VISE STAND Filed A ril 4, 1957 IN V EN TOR. flmm HM United States Patent VlSE STAND Thomas G. Brown, Erie, Pa., assignor to Reed Manufacturing Company, Erie, Pa., a corporation :of Pennsylvania Application April 4, 1957, Serial No. 650,681

2 Claims. (Cl. 211-13) Machinists vises are ditficult to support for display purposes because the movable jaw and handle must be in overhung relation to the support to permit manipulation of the vise and the vise should be readily removable. The overhung relation requires a solid support equivalent to that used in installing the vise on a work bench which is a requirement diametrically opposed to easy removal of the vise from its support. This invention is a display stand for machinists vises which satisfies both of these requirements. The vise is readily slid on a tubular supporting arm and yet while on the support is solidly supported in operating position. Each vise is supported primarily by the back end of its clamping screw which is telescoped into the tubular arm. The back end of the channel-shaped bar fits over the tubular arm and is engaged by a stop which prevents turning of the vise. The vise is accordingly both solidly supported in operating position and readily removable for sale.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the stand and Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing the conventional parts of the machinists vise are readily identified, 1 being the stationary jaw structure supported on a swivel base 2, and 3 being the movable jaw structure at the front end of the channelshaped bar 4 slidable through the stationary jaw structure and projecting to the rear thereof a distance depending upon the maximum jaw opening. At the top of the section 5 of the stationary jaw structure which guides the bar 4 there is the usual anvil 6. The jaws are opened and closed by a clamping screw 7 having its front end rotatably anchored in the movable jaw 3 and turned by a handle 8 and having its rear end housed within and protected by the channel-shaped bar 4. The clamping screw as is customary is threaded into the stationary jaw structure and upon turning of the handle 8 the jaws are opened and closed. The structure so far described is the conventional machinist vise made in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

The machinist vise is not an easy article to support for display purposes. It is not of regular shape. In operating position, the vice should be solidly supported on its base with the movable jaw 3 overhanging the support so that the handle 8 can be manipulated to open or close the jaws. While the overhung relation of the movable jaw is no problem when the vise is installed on a work bench, it is a problem when tzhe vise is to be mounted on a display stand where it must be readily removable without the use of special tools for delivery to any customer. Another factor which makes the vises difiicult to support is that most of the parts are massive castings with relatively few accurately machined surfaces.

All of these problems are overcome by the stand illustrated which has a suitable base 9 for resting on a floor or table at the center of which is an upright post 10 from which project tubular arms 11. Each of the arms 11 is open at its outer end and has a bore or inner diameter of appropriate size to slidably receive the rear end of the clamping screw 7 of the vise to be supported thereon.

a if customers are to have free access to the vise. While the clamping screw is of more than adequate strength to support the gravity load of the vise, it will not maintain the vise in the upright or operating position. This is accomplished by a stop 12 fixed to the outer end of each arm 11 and slidably received between the depending flanges 15 of the channel-shaped bar 4 as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The stop 12 has suificient height so that the vise cannot be put on the stand in an inverted position but in fact can only be put on the stand in the upright or normal operating position. This is clearly apparent from Fig. 2 where it appears that the clearance between the upper side of the tubular arm 11 and the top wall 14 of the channel is much less than the height of the stop 12.

If the stand is to be used for several sizes of vises, the arms 11 will have correspondingly different diameters and lengths since the larger vises with greater jaw openings have clamping screws of greater diameter and length than the smaller vises.

In the use of the stand, the vises to be supported thereon are slid over the outer ends of the appropriate arm 11 and when in place are held firmly and solidly in an upright or normal operating position. Because the greater part of the weight of the vise overhangs the outer end of the arm, there is a substantial cramping force tending to hold the clamping screw tight against the inside of the arm which prevents accidental removal of the vise. This force which prevents the accidental removal is not present when the vise is being slid on or off the arm because then the dead weight of the vise is supported by the user who normally grasps the base 2 which is close to the center of gravity of the vise. While supported on the stand, the vise is in normal operating position with the handle 8 outermost so that a customer can turn the clamping screw to Vary the position of the jaws. There will be considerable friction between the clamping screw and the supporting arm 11 so that the clamping screw will be much harder to turn than when the vise is mounted on a bench. This is not an undesirable feature because it discourages turning of the clamping screw. Since the support of the vise is derived from the portion of the clamping screw which projects rearwardly of the stationary jaw structure, unscrewing of the clamping screw from the stationary jaw structure as is possible with every machinists vise would leave the vise unsupported.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A stand for supporting machinists vises of the type having a movable jaw at the front of the vise carried by a channel shaped bar extending rearwardly from the movable jaw through the stationary jaw structure and having a clamping screw threaded through the stationary jaw with the front end of the screw rotatably anchored in the front end of the movable jaw with the back end of the screw projecting to the back end of the bar between the sides of the channel, said stand comprising a supporting member, tubular arms projecting from the member with the outer ends open, each of said arms having a bore for slidably receiving the clamping screw of the vise to be supported thereon and providing the primary support for the vise, and a stop non-rotatably fixed on the arm and of a size to be slidably received between and to cooperate with the sides of the channel to prevent turning of the channel relative to the arm whereby the vise is supported in overhung relation to the support with the jaws and operating handle outermost so as to be readily accessible for manipulation.

2. A stand for supporting machinists vises of the type having a movable jaw at the front of the vise carried by a channel shaped bar extending rearwardly from the movable jaw through the stationary jaw structure and having a clamping screw threaded through the stationary jaw with its front end rotatably anchored in the movable jaw and turned by an operating handle fixed to the front end of the screw and with the back end of the screw projecting to the back end of the bar between the sides of the channel, said stand comprising a supporting member, tubular 10 arms projecting from the member with the outer ends open, each of said arms having a bore for slidably receiving the clamping screw of the vise to be supported thereon and providing the primary support for the vise,

and a stop non-rotatab1y fixed to the under side of the 15 2,296,043

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 89,270 Anton Apr. 27, 1869 306,319 Carpenter Oct. 7, 1884 314,460 Meredith Mar. 24, 1885 1,903,163 Botsford Mar. 28, 1933 McClary Sept. 15, 1942 

